I'll Never Forget It
by La.Saffron
Summary: What if Mabel took Stan's place and sacrificed her memories…but never got them back?


She knew what she was doing was insane. Mabel never doubted herself (a convincing lie) but she also never lost confidence in her actions (not a lie). Until now though. With Dipper screaming at her in the background to listen to him and stop walking towards the triangular demon, Mabel had learned to shut out any opposing voices to her mind.

She wasn't just doing this for herself, but for her family, her hometown, for the world. Yeah, she was willing enough to make that sacrifice.

Bringing her eyebrows together in a frown, Mabel's knees worked on their own as they bent and limped to the giant form of Bill, who was squeezing the life out of her great-uncles. He laughed maliciously at their demise, watching the old men squirm in his black three-fingered hand. They gasped and choked for breath, but the demon couldn't care less.

He enjoyed their pain, their reaction to his grasp on their oxygen tank, the way the others screamed at him to stop. It was like a comedian getting fired up by the audience's laughs at his jokes. He wouldn't stop, not even for a moment.

Ford had information and he needed it. Bill attempted to compromise some of the loot gained from the demons' invasion of the universe, but Ford would hear none of it. Bill was impressed for a millisecond; but then, his patience was running out fast and he tried not to lose his cool in front of a meager human.

Unfortunately, the only "human" emotions he had were greed, anger and the cliche villain suave and they took him over real quick.

"Hey!" Mabel's voice was raised by a couple octaves, but then again, wasn't it always? "Bill! Down here!"

The giant eye that haunted her relatives' dreams suddenly began to make sense to her. When he turned to slowly look down at Mabel, its intense gaze boring right through her pathetic soul. A violent shiver ran through her, but she swallowed it down as best as she could.

A cackle ran through the air as the demon grew another black arm from his three-dimensional figure. While his other two hands gripped her uncles, his new one slammed down on the left side of her, bringing himself closer to the girl. "Oho! Well, who would've guessed Miss Shooting Star would try to be the hero! Now, this is something I never thought I'd live to see!"

Though his mouth was nonexistent, Mabel was sure that if it showed on Bill's features, it would stretch into a giant grin, one that even the Joker couldn't compete with. The giant slit in his eye widened tantalizingly. "Come on, human! Show me whatcha gonna do! I'm all ears!"

Mabel's fear declined a little bit now that he tried her to challenge him. "I know more than great-uncle Ford! He knows nothing about the formula for the the bubble surrounding the town!"

Bill paused. Ford's eyes widened from Mabel's outrageous outburst and though he made a move to cry out her insanity, another squeeze from the fingers surrounding him shut him up real quick. Bill was obviously not up for the whole 'what-are-you-doing-I'm-saving-the-world' vibe. He was desperate for answers and Mabel seemed like a girl who would not lie in the face of death.

"Hmm." He mused. "And how would you know that when the Author stands right in front of me?"

"'Cause he's more stubborn than me! I'm willing to tell you the answers when he won't!" Her saliva got caught in her braces, but she didn't waver. "I snoop around places, and found the answer to the formula in one of his journals!"

The Journals…

Damn, he knew something was up when he burnt them. Something important that he must have forgotten to remember. Bill's fist pressure cracked the floor next to her, causing Mabel to flinch and jump away. Suddenly, the eye overtook her sight and that was all she saw.

It was red and furious. "T͍̲̠͎ͫ̑̚e͓͎̬̗͑͐̑ͯ̚l͙̤̣̈́ͮͤ͛ͩ̏̆͟l̶̦ͪͨ͗ͩ̔̇̈ ͤͭ̅M̷̯̝͕̣̭͍̜e̪̹̬͙̳̭ ͙̳̇ͦ͗ͮ̍ͣͅE͔̞͍̜̜͕̔̇̽̚v̱̙̺̦̺̽ͤ̌̋ͯe̵̥͂̄̉ȑ̸̤͉̖̐ͣ͑ͅy̴̠̬̜̭͔t̖̤̝̲̎͜h̻̲̐i̢͇̬̲͇̠͔ͥ͛̃ͨn̻̙͛̋g̹̖̈̑́͢ ͖̼̫̙͉Y̹̹̠̯̔͗o͚̰̳͡ṳ̱̤ ̻͈̹̫̇̓̽͒̀K̫̖̠̼̪͕͑͋̂͌ͯͫn͕̪͇̞̹͂͋̎́͋̅ͨo̅͐ͮͫ́ͣ͏̜͉̩͇w̝͇͕ͩͫ̔̐ͦ."

Mabel should've peed herself by now, she was so scared. But that's what happens when you try to play hero and save the freaking world from a three-dimensional weirdo who's a shape, okay she's ranting mentally and time was running out (even though, at that point, time had no actual meaning).

Pointing a short finger at him, she mustered a voice that she thought sounded strong, but in reality wavered. "Fine, but on one condition! You let Great-Uncle Stan and Ford go! Dipper, too!"

The demon made a sound that sounded like a huff and within a blink of an eye, the men were falling in the air and Mabel only hoped that they wouldn't be too hurt when they hit the ground. The tentacles woven around her twin were, too, dissolving, but at a very slow rate. Bill was testing her own patience and this did not do well for the pre-teen.

"Okay, see? I let 'em go. Now," Bill suddenly shrunk to a somewhat human sized triangle, one that would seem to be easy to overcome . He thrust a thin black hand out, his extra one gone. "Ya gotta shake on it, kid." An elemental fire lit his hand and illuminated her face

"Mabel, don't do it!" A cracking voice rang out. Dipper. "Are you crazy?! You'll lose everything; don't listen to h-mmph!" A black hand suddenly clamped down on Dipper's mouth, muting him from saying any other annoying, cliche phrases that wasted Bill's "time".

"Hurry, Shooting Star, I'm not a patient guy." The demon's voice echoed around her, reminding her of her choice once more. She locked eyes with her great-uncle wearily, and they shared some sort of understanding between one another.

Taking a deep breath, Mabel thrust out her own hand and as they grasped fingers with the demon's inhumanely ones, her brown eyes shot open and glared at Bill, completely unafraid. She must have gone insane at that point, for all she saw was Bill's maniacal gaze in his eye when he swallowed up her entity.

"Deal." she whispered, before Dipper's scream was muted out by Bill's crazed laughter and then, there was nothing.

* * *

"Mabel? Mabel, get up! Mabel!"

"Is she awake?"

"Oh my God, wait!"

"Wait, what?"

"I...I saw her eyes flicker…"

"Yeah...Hold on! She's awake!"

"Quick, guys! Someone bring water!"

"Alright, alright, fellas! Move back, BACK! Let the kid breathe!"

"Urghhh…" Mabel weakly lifted her head, letting it immediately sink back down because of the pounding hammer on her temples. Her vision was blurry and her throat was parched. Strange. Was she asleep? Just dreaming? Then why was she….outside on pokey and dead grass?

"Here," someone said. He had brown disheveled hair and a pink nose. Heh. Funny. In his hand, he held out a cup of water. "Drink. But carefully! You might hurt your head." Oh, he's...concerned for her? Who was he, though?

"Uhh...thanks." With shaking fingers, Mabel reached out for the water, and froze when two unfamiliar (large) palms suddenly propped up her small back for her to drink the water properly. She flinched at the unrequested contact.

"Um, who are you guys?"

She almost regret asking. The boy (who was probably around her age) had his eyes misted over as they popped out of their sockets, his eyebags giving him a much older feature than intended.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." He repeated over and over again, as Mabel mentally counted his 'no's for fun.

Another gruff, almost hoarse, voice behind here said, "Hey, kid, calm down. It'll pass, I told ya already." Hmm. Sounded like someone who was born into a mafia and cheats people out of their life-savings. Why did he sound so familiar again?

"Yes, Dipper, please don't make a fuss about it." Another more authoritative voice gently replied behind her to the left. "This is just a stage in the process. Amnesia doesn't last forever; it's momentary."

"Momentary? Momentary?!" The boy almost screamed. The poor guy had his fingers tearing out little brown tufts of hair. "Amnesia? This isn't amnesia, Uncle Ford. She just gave up her subconscious and everything it holds to..to..to save us!"

'Um…" Mabel giggled nervously, suddenly feeling out of place with these strangers. "Am I missing something here?"

The boy stopped ripping out his hair and knelt in front of her, making her back up into the supporting hands behind her, increasing her uncomfortable level x10. "You...you really don't remember me? Mabel, it's me; Dipper! Your twin brother? Your…..your best friend?"

She didn't want to say this, but judging by the concerned eyes around her, she couldn't help but feel pressured when that one-syllable slipped out of her mouth as she gave her sad reply.

"No."

She may not have remembered what the strangers seemed to remember about her, but she would never forget the tearful scream of anguish that pierced through that bright sunny day.

* * *

This was a tumblr request! Gimme some love la-saffron and yes, I will take requests while you still can!


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